a. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a separator preferably operated with a waste reducer. The waste reducer breaks waste up into particles. The separator separates the particles by size and composition.
b. Description of the Prior Art
Environmentalists have raised a consciousness concerning the contamination of our environment with unsightly and virtually uncontrollable depositing of waste and debris usually at designated landfill sites. This debris may come from many sources including demolition sites, razing or gutting of existing buildings, land clearing areas, manufacturing and construction sites to mention a few.
One of the major problems and disadvantages that exist with respect to current landfill, sites include fires, many of which are fanned by underground tunnels of air caused by the bulkiness and large size of the debris. Fires of this type are generally very difficult to contain and to extinguish.
Another serious problem with respect to landfill sites is the slowness and the uncontrollable nature of the degradation of the debris also caused by the bulkiness and large size of many of the items deposited at these sites.
There have been attempts to solve the handling of waste and the landfill problems, but most have been ineffectual. For example, at many building construction and demolition sites, compactors often times receive the building debris. While compaction of this material does to some extent reduce its bulkiness, it does not reduce the size or bulkiness of the individual items. At best, compaction merely reduces the amount of air space. Compaction of debris is not an effective solution to landfill problems.
Certain machinery has been proposed for reducing the size of debris, but these machines have their limitations, particularly in terms of efficiency, power requirements, lack of speed, and in many instances, the inability to handle relatively large pieces of debris. Some of the known existing machinery includes "SLASHBUSTERS" offered by D & M Machine Division Inc., Montesano, Washington, "STUMPMASTER" marketed by Stumpmaster, Inc., Rising Fawn, Georgia and the M80 Grapple loading Portable Universal Refiner marketed by Universal Refiner Corporation, Montesano, Washington. Augers have also been proposed but usually require too much power and cannot reduce relatively large size waste materials. Machines of the foregoing type only have limited application at best and are unable to completely resolve the landfill problems which require the ability to handle all types and sizes of debris and reduce it to a size manageable for landfill areas that would enhance the biodegradation process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,543 discloses a material reducing apparatus capable of reducing various bulky waste to much smaller particulate matter useful for landfills. However, it was found that in certain applications, this particulate matter must be separated for further processing.